New shop will bring local cheese and special meats to South Charlotte

Davidson’s new meat shop, Carolina Craft Butchery, is open, so now it’s time to turn our attention to another area of Charlotte that’s about to get a new meat and cheese shop.

Christopher Sottile has signed a lease and plans to open The Loyalist Market, a cut-to-order cheese and charcuterie shop in the North End district of Matthews, at 435 N. Trade St., near where Sam Newell Road crosses N.C. 51. The meat here will be cured – think country hams and Italian specialities – along with N.C. cheeses and other specialties, including local and regional chocolates, coffee, jams, pickles, olive oils, sodas, beers and wines.

What does “The Loyalist” mean?

“We’re loyal to local, we’re loyal to authentic,” he says.

The new shop will serve sandwiches, as well as cheese and cured meats by the pound, during the day, then will become a cheese bar at night with beer and wine.

Sottile, who has worked for U.S. Foods, which services restaurants, has spent the last several years as the Southern regional sales manager for Creminelli Fine Meats. While he won’t be able to make his own charcuterie in the new location – too many state and federal regulations, he says – he has made it himself as a hobby.

“I’m Italian,” he says. “One day I woke up and said, ‘I want to get closer to my Italian roots, how can I do that?’ I said, ‘cheese and meat.’” He quickly learned he was better at cured meats than cheeses, so he spent several years learning everything he could and working for Creminelli. In the shop, he hopes to carry high-end lines such as Benton’s and Olympia.